Nicole Orsua is the Chief Industry Development Officer for Travel Nevada. The team has three primary pillars: to support the development of tourism destinations in rural Nevada, to support existing tourism businesses in rural Nevada, and to sell rural Nevada to both domestic and international audiences through travel and trade market development. Her career has spanned both the private and public sectors, having worked for hotels, tourism attractions, tour guide companies, and local governments. These roles have taken place in urban, regional, and rural locations, in both the United States and Australia; giving her a global point of view on prospective problems and the unique challenges in global tourism. She has a Master of International Sustainable Tourism Management, which she completed at Monash University in 2020, during which she learned the potential positive (and negative) impacts tourism can have on the local community, economy, and environment. A chapter based on her thesis research is now featured in the Routledge Handbook on Tourism and Small Island States in the Pacific, published in December 2022. When not traveling to new places she enjoys spending time with her family, petting every dog she crosses paths with, and spending time at Lake Tahoe.
